Thursday, August 31, 2017

Chuck Roast and Leftover Recipes

Sunday dinner should be special but with this recipe you can do a pulled beef for summer sandwiches.

Beef Roast made into Pulled Beef

All you need to do is pull out all of the vegetables around the roast and then pull out the beef into wonderfully small pieces.

When I was a youngster, my grandfather always bought the meat for our Sunday dinner. He was not what you would call rich but he shopped at a local butcher shop and came home with the best cuts of meat for Sunday's dinner. He always came home with a roast or whole chicken and Sunday's were always special. I remember hearing my mother say each time she made a beef roast that chuck roast was the best tasting of the beef cuts. I can honestly say that I do remember there being something a little more flavorful when the cut of meat was a chuck roast and the leftovers were tastier. You know the second day is better after the meat has time to marinate overnight.

Beef Pot Roast

My mom would put the roast into a roaster that the bottom was lightly lined with bacon grease and little water to prevent the meat from sticking to the bottom of the pan. The cover was put over the pan and it was lined with onions and celery to add to the flavor. I'm not sure if that added to the flavor of the entree or the ensuing gravy but that was the reason for the vegetables around the roast. About an hour before the roast was done peeled potatoes were added to the pan. The vegetable was always something that was cooked on top of the stove and I don't remember there being any carrots in the roasting pan. The result was a delicious tender roast.

Beef Roast in Crock Por

OK! With all those nice instructions, here is my same recipe but done in my modern-day style. I don't use my oven to make my chuck roast. I put the cut of meat into my crock pot that has been lined with a little water to prevent sticking. I start the roast with onions and celery cut around. I normally start the roast on the high setting just to get the meat going. I sometimes use pearl onions that I buy the in freezer section of the store. In about a half hour, I add carrots, unpeeled red potatoes and about a cup of water and then turn the crock pot down to slow cooking on the low setting. I leave this go for anywhere from three to four hours or until we can't stand the aroma any more and are too hungry to wait. The result is the most tender meat you have ever tasted. It just falls apart as you cut it. If I'm being really lazy, I do the above but instead of using all the fresh vegetables, I open a bag of frozen stewing vegetables over the meat when I start it and let it cook slow for the whole two to three hours.

Beef Pot PIe

I buy a larger roast than I need for one meal and if there is any left over, I use the juice from the crock pot to make gravy and the next day the leftovers are cut into smaller pieces and cooked with the gravy for beef stew. This recipe is the same as my Pork Pot Pie recipe but you just replace the pork with beef cubes.

If there isn't enough beef left over to make a whole meal the next day, I make the beef stew but instead of simmering on top of the stove I make 8 or 9 inch pie crusts and make a pot pie for the family to enjoy. The beef stew is put into the bottom crust and covered with the second crust. The pie is baked at 350 deg. for about 30 to 45 minutes.

If you feel like being fancy, you can make the pot pie into a shepherd's pie by making mashed potatoes for you top crust and baking it the same way. For both pies your gravy needs to be a little on the thick side.

The point is the roast may be a little expensive (but remember I got a buy one get one special) but you get more than one meal out of that piece of meat.